PokerStars Caribbean Adventure - Live Updates

In just the fourth hand of heads-up, Poorya Nazari has won the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Anthony Gregg raised it up to $650k, Nazari made it $2 million straight and Gregg shipped it in.

"How much, like $8 million?" Nazari asked. "I call."

Gregg had just Q♦ 7♠ and Nazari the A♣ T♦. The flop came T♠ 6♣ 5♣, taking away some of Gregg's outs. The turn brought the 3♠ and when the river came the 9♦, the title belonged to Poorya Nazari.

Gregg takes home $1.7 million for second, but Nazari grabs the PCA crown, the glory and $3 million in Caribbean booty!

Stay tuned for interviews and a full recap of the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table.

After five hours of three-handed play we are finally heads-up following the exit of German Benny Spindler.

He shipped it facing a Poorya Nazari raise and Nazari made the call in dominating position with A♠ J♦ against Benny's Q♦ J♥.

The flop came K♠ 4♠ 3♠, taking away one of Spindler's outs, but the T♦ gave him a few more. Finally, the K♦ river fell, taking Spindler out third for $1.1 million.

Heads-up will begin with Nazari on $17,685,000 to Anthony Gregg's $9,210,000.

A $3 million first-place prize and all the glory of the PCA title hangs in the balance.

It’s still anyone’s game at the 2009 PCA final table thanks to a lucky double-up by Anthony Gregg. In the hand Gregg open-shoved from the button for about $1 million. Benny Spindler reshoved and Poorya Nazari got out of the way.

The players flipped over their cards:

Spindler: A♣ K♥

Gregg: A♠ 8♦

It appeared that after five hours of play we were going to have our final elimination as Gregg was dominated.

The board had other plans as it came A♠ J♠ 8♦ 8♠ 2♦ to double Gregg up to $8 million which, for the umpteenth time, makes everyone almost even.

Welcome to Level 30 where this epic three-handed battle continues with an increase in the blinds.

It's been five hours since the last elimination.

Poorya Nazari and Benny Spindler just played another massive hand against each other, which saw Nazari retake the lead.

In the hand Spindler bet $600,000 from the small blind and Nazari called from the big blind. The flop came 9♣ 4♣ 3♦; Nazari bet $1.6 million and Spindler called.

With around $4 million in the pot the turn came T♣. Spindler checked but Nazari fired out a massive $2.5 million bet. Spindler thought for a minute but then folded. Nazari is back in the lead with $12.9 million.

Benny Spindler got short, but isn't done yet here at the PCA after doubling through Anthony Gregg moments ago.

The hand started with a min-raise from Benny into Anthony's big blind. He called and the Q♦ 4♥ 2♦ flop rolled out. Spindler made it $600k, Gregg pushed and Spindler called all-in for his tournament life with A♦ 9♦.

Gregg had 7♠ 3♠, but his pair was statistically behind Spindler's two overs and a flush draw. The 4♠ turn was a brick, but the J♦ river did the trick and suddenly Gregg is the short stack on $7 million, Spindler moves up to second position with $8 million and Poorya Nazari is ahead with a little over $11 million in chips.

The battle between Benny Spindler, Poorya Nazari and Anthony Gregg continues but no one seems to be able to land the decisive blow.

Right now it is surprisingly Gregg, one of the early short stacks, who is leading the chip counts with $11.8 million thanks to a double-up off Spindler. Spindler fell as low as $4 million at one point but has fought his way back up to $5.7 million. Reraising machine Nazari is holding steady with about $9 million.

Who will go next? Stay tuned …

We roll on three-handed into Level 29 where the players will find increased blinds and antes.

Ship it!

Poorya Nazari has inched back into the lead with some aggressive pre-flop play.

His latest hand started with a raise from Anthony Gregg to $350k. Benny Spindler then came over the top, making it $1.1 million, before Nazari four-bet it up to $3 million.

Gregg folded his hand quickly, but it took a while for Benny to muck his hand.

Nazari moved over $10 million, Gregg is behind only a few hundred thousand and Spindler is now the shorter of the three, on a little over $7 million.

Check out what Nazari had to say at the last break in the video below:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-nazari.mp4#

Poorya Nazari and Benny Spindler have been going after each other all night long and they’re not showing any signs of stopping anytime soon.

In the hand Nazari bet $300,000 pre-flop and Spindler called. The flop came 9♥ 6♣ 4♠ and Nazari fired a continuation bet for $400,000. Spindler flatted and the turn came 7♦. Nazari fired a $700,000 bet and Spindler yet again called.

The river fell J♣ and both players opted to check. Nazari showed 8-6 for a pair of sixes but Spindler showed T♥ 7♣ for a pair of sevens.

Spindler is again in control of the chip lead with over $10 million.

The three remaining players are now in a dead heat for the PCA title.

Benny Spindler made it $400k from the button, Poorya Nazari raised it up to $1.2 million and Benny made the call.

The flop came 5♣ 5♥ 2♣ and after Nazari led out for $1.475 million, Spindler shoved.

Nazari was forced to fold and Benny took the slight chip lead, on $9.4 million now.

Nazari has $9.2 million and Anthony Gregg is on $8.1 million right behind.

The action has definitely increased since the dinner break. In the last hand Anthony Gregg and Benny Spindler got it all-in on a flop of J♣ 8♥ 7♥.

Gregg showed K♥ 6♥ for the flush draw but Spindler had J♠ 7♠ for two pair. The board finished with the 9♠ and then the 6♦, which was enough to give Gregg the pot and the double-up. After the hand Gregg was up to $8 million while Spindler was beaten down to $6 million.

Poorya Nazari is still the chip leader with about $13 million.

A short-stacked Anthony Gregg has just doubled through Poorya Nazari, getting it in with K♦ J♠.

Nazari made the loose call with A♠ 5♦ and was ahead. He stayed there when the T♥ 5♣ 9♣ flop fell, pairing him up, but Gregg picked up a number of outs. The J♦ was one of them, and when the 7♠ river came down Gregg doubled.

He's got over $4 million now and Poorya's lead has been trimmed.

The three remaining players have returned from dinner and it's now Level 28, which means blinds are $75,000/$150,000 with a $20,000 ante. Poorya Nazari still leads with $13 million. Check the complete chip counts in the table below on the right.

We just saw the last two remaining big stacks go at each other in a huge hand. The hand saw bets traded back and forth between Poorya Nazari and Benny Spindler on a K♣ J♠ 7♦ 3♥ 8♣ board, and then Nazari shoved all-in on the river to make the pot worth $9 million chips.

Spindler appeared aggravated by the shove but after several minutes made a crying call with K♠ 3♠ for two pair. Unfortunately for the German, Nazari had K♥ 8♠ for the rivered better two pair.

Nazari now has the chip lead with around $13.5 million while Spindler is down to $10.4 million.

Players are now on a brief 30-minute dinner break.

Three-handed play has been a tight affair thus far.

Benny Spindler has held on to his massive chip lead as few hands have gone to showdown so far and the overall chip counts haven't really changed.

Stay tuned as something's bound to give soon!

Team PokerStars Pro's Alexandre Gomes' magical run at the 2009 PCA title is over.

He opened with a standard raise and Benny Spindler flatted. The flop fell J♠ J♥ J♦ and when Gomes fired $530k at the pot, Spindler raised it up to $1,350,000. Gomes called before checking the 5♠ turn.

Spindler wasted little time, making it $2 million to go. Gomes shoved and Benny snap-called. Gomes shook his head and laid A♥ A♣ on the felt, knowing what the snap-call meant. Spindler had flopped quads with K♣ J♣, and Gomes was left drawing dead.

The Q♣ river dropped and Gomes dropped out, heading to the cage to grab $750K for fourth.

All three players left just became millionaires and Spindler has a stranglehold on the $3 million first-place prize with almost $17 million in chips going forward.

PL.com TV caught up with Gomes after the sick cooler. You can check out what he had to say in the video below and scroll down for exit interviews inside the bust-out posts for the other finalists:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-gomesbust.mp4#

Dutch poker player Peter Tielen put on an impressive display at the 2009 PCA, considering he qualified for just $33 on PokerStars.com.

In the hand Benny Spindler bet $300,000 from UTG but Tielen shoved all-in for his last $1.8 million. Spindler called in short order, flipping over 8♣ 8♥, while Tielen showed A♣ Q♦.

With Tielen’s tournament life on the line the dealer prepared to put the board. It came T♥ 7♣ 6♦ 5♠ K♦ to give Spindler the check mark.

Spindler grabs the chip lead with close to $7 million.

Check out the video below to see what Tielen had to say about his fifth-place finish here at the PCA:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-tielenbust.mp4#

Dustin Dirksen has just gone out in sixth place, after losing a race for all his chips against Benny Spindler.

The money went in pre-flop with Dirksen calling all-in holding A♦ K♦. Spindler held T♠ T♣ and the boxcars held on a Q♥ J♥ J♠ 6♦ 3♥ board.

For sixth, Dirksen grabs $400k, and we're down to five at the PCA now.

Dustin spoke to PL.com TV after his exit. Check out the video below:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-dirksenbust.mp4#

Dan Heimiller has just gone out seventh in a massive hand that saw American Anthony Gregg triple up as well.

Heimiller shoved, Poorya Nazari reshipped and Gregg called all-in for his tournament life before the flop. Unfortunately, Heimiller could only show 5♣ 5♠. Nazari had him beat with 8♣ 8♦, but Gregg's 9♠ 9♥ was in the lead.

The board ran out K♥ J♣ J♠ 6♠ 7♠ and as everybody missed, Gregg raked the $3.7 million pot.

Nazari's lead has slimmed and he's left with just $6.9 million, while Hemiller says goodbye, heading to the cage to grab $300k in seventh-place money.

Check out what Dan had to say in the PL.com TV video below:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-heimillerbust.mp4#

The short stacks at the final table of the PCA refuse to go away. In a recent hand Peter Tielen bet $250,000 but Dirksen reraised to $600,000. Tielen immediately shoved all-in and Dirksen snap-called.

Tielen revealed a decent 7♠ 7♦ while Dirksen was ready to race with A♣ J♣.

The flop came 6♥ 6♦ 5♥, which wasn't what Dirksen wanted to see. The 5♣ peeled off the turn and the river finished with the 9♠.

Tielen doubles up to approximately $2 million.

A cocky Dustin Dirksen has picked up his game with some aggressive play and even more aggressive talk.

He raised a few hands ago with no callers, boldly showing A-Q.

"Blackjack," he said. "If I make a big score today Atlantis is going to love me because I'm going straight to the casino. I'm going to try and break the bank. I wonder how much they have in the vault?"

From first in chips in the final nine to first out of the final eight, Kevin Saul's fall from grace is now over.

He got it in with K♠ J♠, but Poorya Nazari had Q♥ Q♦, and the ladies held on a J♥ 8♣ 7♣ 3♥ 2♦ board.

Saul takes $214,000 for eighth place and the feeling his fate was sealed in when he got trapped by Alexandre Gomes late last night. Meanwhile Nazari's lead on the final table increases.

Check out what Kevin had to say after he went out in the video below:

#Video:PCA/PCA-standups-saulbust.mp4#

Dan Heimiller has just taken a chunk out of Team PokerStars Pro's Alexandre Gomes' stack.

Gomes raised, Heimiller shoved for $715k and although he tanked for some strange reason before making the rather cheap call, Gomes eventually ponied up the chips.

He held T♠ 8♠ and took the lead against Heimiller's A♦ J♥ on the Q♣ 9♥ T♦ flop. The 7♣ turn kept Heimiller at risk, but Dan straightened out on the 8♣ river to get back over $1.5 million.

The Gomes slide continues, with him down to $5.8 million now.

Dustin Dirksen has done it again, doubling through Benny Spindler to get his stack up into the $3 million range.

He jumped back into contention riding J♣ J♠ into a battle for his tournament life against Spindler's A♥ 8♣, and the johnnies held on a 4♠ 4♣ 5♥ 9♣ 9♥ board.

Expect Dirksen to start chirping now that he's got chips again.

With the first 15 minutes of the final table out of the way, we move into Level 26.

The blinds and antes are both up and some serious action should follow.

After Alexandre Gomes bluffed off a few more chips to Poorya Nazari, he's slipped out of the lead.

Dustin Dirksen has doubled up in the first hand of play.

He got it in with A♠ K♥ against Team PokerStars Pro's Alex Gomes holding Q♠ J♥.

They both missed the 9♥ 6♥ 2♠ 3♣ 6♠ board but Dustin's ace-high was still good for the double.

He's on better than $1.5 million now and Gomes drops under $8 million.

The players have been introduced to the rather raucous crowd surrounding the final table here at Atlantis and the cards are in the air.

The final eight start in the middle of Level 25!

The final table of the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is just minutes away and with a $3 million first-place prize on the line there's a palpable excitement in the air here at Atlantis.

Team PokerStars Pro member Alexandre Gomes will come in with the massive chip lead on better than $8 million after masterfully trapping 2007 WPT Bellagio Cup champ Kevin Saul late last night.

The Brazilian WSOP bracelet winner will have Canadian Poorya Nazari right behind him on $6.7 million after Nazari got Dustin Dirksen to pay off his aces in the latter stages of play on Day 4.

Young German Benny Spindler held on to $3.5 million in chips when play wrapped yesterday and still has a legitimate shot at the big Caribbean booty today, followed up closely by American Anthony Gregg and his $2.2 million.

Despite his late blow-up, Saul still has $1.64 million in chips and should not be counted out, while Dutch PokerStars qualifier Pieter Nielen has just a little under $1 million.

Last but not least is the abrasive Dustin Dirksen, looking to follow up his runner-up finish at a WSOP final table this summer with a rags-to-riches win here at the PCA, coming in short on $765,000.

PL.com will be on the Bahamian scene all day with live updates, video exit interviews and more, so stay tuned poker fans - the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table is next!